Carton opening cutter

ABSTRACT

A cutter for opening cartons of the type in popular use which are formed from paper stock, the sides of which at the top are folded together to close the carton and incidentally form inwardly folded panels which, after opening the top, are folded outwardly to form a pouring spout. The cutter comprises a blade having a cutting edge extending across the slot, the slot guiding the sealed flange at the top of the carton to and past the blade to slit said flange for a length adequate to expose the spoutforming panels and the inner end of the slot forms a stop to limit the length of the slit to expose the spout-forming panels but otherwise retain the top structure in condition to be closed after the pouring operation.

United States Patent Jones et a].

[451 Apr. 16, 1974 1 CARTON OPENING CUTTER [76] Inventors: Frank W.Jones; James D. Lemmon, both of R.D. No. 2, Littlestown, Pa. 17340 [22]Filed: Nov. 26, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 202,297

[52] U.S. Cl. 30/123 R, 30/2 [51] Int. Cl B26b 3/00 [58] Field of Search30/294, 314, 315, 337, 30/339, DIG. 3, DIG. 8, 123 R; 81/3.3 R

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 731,147 6/1903 Woodyard30/315 X 3,028,670 4/1962 Tilly 3,395,453 8/1968 Prater... 30/294 x2.087.140 7/1937 Coughlan ..30/279 2,142,695 l/1939 Mainzer 81/33 RFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 258,125 4/1928 Italy 30/339 407,78911/1944 Italy ..30/294 Primary Examiner-Othell M. Simpson AssistantExaminer-Gary L. Smith Attorney, Agent, or FirmC. I-Iercus Just [5 7]ABSTRACT A cutter for opening cartons of the type in popular use whichare formed from paper stock, the sides of which at the top are foldedtogether to close the carton and incidentally form inwardly foldedpanels which, after opening the top, are folded outwardly to form apouring spout. The cutter comprises a blade having a cutting edgeextending across the slot, the slot guiding the sealed flange at the topof the carton to and past the blade to slit said flange for a lengthadequate to expose the spout-forming panels and the inner end of theslot forms a stop to limit the length of the slit to expose thespout-forming panels but otherwise retain the top structure in conditionto be closed after the pouring operation.

2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 16 m4 (803; 7 l 3 4o 7m'rlulllllllllillflhl 44 FIG. 5

I! Ne INVENTOR. FRANK W. JONES JAMES D. LEMMON CARTON OPENING CUTTERBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of disposable cartons formerchandising milk, various types of beverages and the like has becomevery popular in recent years. The cartons are formed from various typesof paper stock which are rendered waterproof by various coatings ofparraffin, synthetic resins and lacquers, and otherwise. After thecartons are filled through an open, upstanding top, opposite sides ofthe top portion of the carton are folded toward each other in slopingmanner while the opposite intervening sides are creased and foldedinwardly. This results in a multi-ply rib when the folded side portionsare brought together for sealing the contents within the carton untilready for use. Various arrangements are provided in the sealingarrangement for the carton to permit tearing the multi-ply rib at thetop inwardly from one end for substantially half the-length thereof, andthe separated portions then are folded backwardly to expose the upperends of spout-forming panels which are then pulled outwardly intospout-forming position.

Sometimes the sealing operation sticks the upper ends of thespout-forming panels to the adjacent side panels in such manner thatafter the opening tear has been made, it is difficult to separate thespout-forming panels from the other ones in order to pull thespoutforming panels outwardly. Both the tearing operations as well asthe pulling of the spout-forming panels outwardly frequently results inexasperating experiences including the breaking of fingernails,accidentally inserting ones finger down into the contents of the carton,as well as other unsatisfactory results which, in general, leavesomething to be desired over present structures which will facilitatethe opening of the eartons.

Opening the tops of such cartons by the use of customary devices such asscissors, paring knives and the like, results in jagged cuts as well aspossible injury to the person performing the operation. In general, thepaper stock, especially with a waterproof coating thereon, is tough, asit is intended to be in order to resist possible rough handling of thecarton without developing a leak. This situation contributes to thedifficulty of opening the carton by the usual means including scissorsand paring knives, as well as physically tearing the sealed end of thecarton apart manually by the use of the thumb and forefinger of bothhands. Particularly where a jagged cut has been formed in the openingoperation, reclosing the opened top is difficult after pouring a portionof the contents from the carton, particularly when it is desired toplace the partially emptied carton in a refrigerator for furtherstorage.

The foregoing difficulties are eliminated and effectively overcome bythe present invention which includes a cutting blademounted in acarrying plate or member which is slotted to simultaneously guide thecutting blade along the sealed, upstanding flange at the top of thecartons of the type referred to in order to slit said flange neatly andcleanly, for a controlled length thereof which is adequate to expose thesmoothly cut upper ends of the spout-forming panels whereby, when theportion of the flange which has been slit is moved laterally to oneside, the spout-forming panels may be popped outwardly by a simplemanual operation, after which the opened carton may also be reclosed inan equally neat manner, when desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the presentinvention to provide a cutter for opening cartons of the type referredto above by slitting the sealed flange formed by the opposite sidepanels of the carton which form the top and slope outwardly away fromeach other, the cutter comprising a support plate having a slotextending inward from one end a distance less than the length of thesealed flange and having a width preferably slightly greater than thethickness of the flange, the support plate carrying a cutting bladewhich extends across said slot at an acute angle to the axis of theslot, the distance between the cutting edge of the'blade and the innerend of said slot being no less than the length of the inwardly foldedspout-forming panels, whereby the partially slit flange may be movedlaterally aside to expose the smoothly cut upper ends of thespout-forming panels so that they may be flipped to open position.

It is another object of the invention to form the cutter simply andinexpensively such as by utilizing synthetic resin which may beinjection-molded, or otherwise formed, to provide a supporting platewhich may be attached at one end, if desired, to a vertical supportingsurface such as a wall, or otherwise may be shaped to be readily graspedin the human hand, one embodiment of the cutter being arranged with onesurface of the plate having a shallow recess formed therein within whichthe cutting blade is replacably secured so as to extend across the slotof the support plate, the bladesecuring means including the use ofscrews by which a clamping plate may be detached from the support plateto permit the insertion of one of a variety of cutting blades which, forconvenience, may be any of a variety of popularly used razor blades,either single or double edged, whereby when the cutting blade becomesdull, it easily may be replaced with a new or sharper blade.

more simple cutter than the type referred to immediately above byproviding a slotted support plate formed by molding synthetic resin andsecuring a cutting blade, in situ, fixedly within the plate so as toextend angularly across said slot.

Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as otherobjects thereof, are set'forth in the following speeification andillustrated in the accompanying drawing comprising a part thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective viewillustrating the upper end of a carton in process of being moved intoslitting engagement with a cutter comprising one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical elevation comprising an end view of thearrangement shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of another embodiment of cutter including asupplemental feature over the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a clamping plate of the type included inthe embodiment of cutter shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the clamping plate illustratedin FIG. 4 as seen on the line 55 thereof.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of a cutter of the type shown in FIG. 7illustrated in operative engagement with the upper end of a carton whichis only fragmentarily illustrated and shown at the completion of theslitting operation of the sealing flange of the carton.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of another embodiment of cutter embodying theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustrating clampingmeans for the cutting blade as shown in exemplary manner on the line 88of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 9 and 10 respectively are top plan and front elevational views ofanother, more simple embodiment of the invention than types illustratedin the preceding figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The type of carton to which the present inventionpertains is illustrated fragmentarily in FIGS. 1 and 6. Such cartonsconventionally, at present, are formed from paper stock of suitablethickness and durable nature and coated by appropriate waterproofingsubstances such as paraffin, synthetic resin, lacquers, and

other appropriate materials approved by health authorities. The cartonsare formed in a factory and are shipped to dairies, beveragemanufacturing plants, and the like with tops in open condition and thebottom of the carton is closed but the upper portions of certain sidewalls are creased in various ways so that, following the filling of thecarton, the upper portions 10 and 12 of the side walls 14 and 16 can befolded along crease lines 18 and 20 to bring the upper edges 22 thereofinto engagement with each other. Additional transverse crease lines 24,parallel to the crease lines 18 and 20, of the upper portions 10 and 12of the side walls will cause short transverse terminal portions 26 to bebrought into flat engagement with each other to form a composite,multi-ply vertical flange 28 which is relatively stiff, especially whenthe carton is formed from coated paper stock of the type referred toabove.

The intervening side walls 30, between the side walls 14 and 16, alsohave upper portions 32, only one of which is shown in FIG. 1, which arefolded inwardly along diagonal crease lines 34 as well as along the endcreases 36 which connect the upper portions 32 along adjacent portionsto the upper portions 10 and 12 with side walls 14 and 16. The upperportions 32 of intervening side walls 30 are slightly shorter than thetransverse terminal portions 26 comprising the upper ends of side walls'14 and 16 and preferably are disposed substantially along the dottedlines 38, see FIG. 6, so that they are effectively sealed closed whenthe terminal portions 26 are brought into closing engagement with eachother and are sealed by conventional means such as staples, not shown,or by heating the thermoplastic synthetic resin coatings on the paperstock and the material from which the cartons are formed. The foregoingdescription is provided as background for the construction of thecartons with which the carton opening cutter comprising the subjectmatter of the present invention is operable to slit the vertical flange28 slightly above the creases 24 and preferably generally in thevicinity of the dotted lines illustrating the terminal ends 38 of theupper portions 32 of the intervening side walls 30.

The cutter comprising the present invention is capable of being formedin different embodiments which nevertheless, in general, include thesame or similar basic principles of the invention. Essentially, thecutter comprises a support plate 40 which may be formed of any suitablematerial. The preferred material is mythetic resin or plastics ofappropriate thickness, such as of the order of about /8 inch or 3/16inch, for example. Metal or other similar rigid material likewise may beutilized if desired. If formed from synthetic resin, the support plateand any attaching means, such as a perpendicular flange 42 may be formedintegrally thereon by being injected into an appropriate mold cavity.However, it is also possible to manufacture the same from sheet stock byemploying conventional manufacturing principles pertinent to sheet typesynthetic resin materials, such as sawing, milling and formingoperations. The support plate 40 is provided with a slot 44 whichextends inward from one end thereof. The slot preferably is of uniformthickness and is of predetermined length for purposes to be described.It is also slightly wider than the flange 28 of the cartons to be slit,as described hereinafter.

Support plate 40 is provided with means to receive and support one ofseveral types of cutting blades. An exemplary double-edged razor blade46 is illustrated, for example, in FIG. 3, while a narrower,single-edged blade 48 is shown in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7.For purposes of commonly accommodating either type of blade,particularly as long as the blade is of uniform thickness, the supportblade 40 is provided with a substantially rectangular, shallow recess 50which has a depth of preferably approximately one-half the thickness ofthe support plate 40 as illustrated in exemplary manner in FIG. 8. Saidrecess provides a bottom support surface for either of the double edgedtype blade 46 or the single edge type blade 48. Clamping means for saidblades may be of several types respectively illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5and in FIGS. 9 and 10.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, a clamping plate 42 is illustrated which is preferablyunitary. Referring to FIG. 3, wherein such clamping plate 52 isillustrated in clamping position with respect to the recess 50, it willbe seen that the longitudinal axis of said recess as well as the cuttingedges of the blade 46 are disposed at an acute angle to the axis of theslot 46. The angle between said axes preferably is approximately 50, butsaid indication is not to be regarded as restrictive since otherslightly different acute angles may be employed satisfactorily. Theunitary clamping plate 52 is provided with a diagonal slot 54 whichextends inward from one longitudinal side edge of the plate for aportion of the width thereof. Said slot terminates at its inner end inan upwardly sloping cam surface 56 which is best shown in FIG. 5. Also,said cam surface curves slightly in a lateral direction with respect tothe axis of the slot 54, as shown best in FIG. 3, to facilitate bendinga slit flange 28 automatically to one side, as described in detailhereinafter.

The clamping plate 52 is secured in clamping relationship against theblade 46 by a pair of screws 58 which may either be bevel headed orround headed, and nuts 60 therefore may either be imbedded into thesynthetic resin, as shown in exemplary manner in FIG. 2, or they may bedisposed in recesses in the underface of the support plate 40, as shownin FIG. 8.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, wherein a relatively narrow or singleedged razor blade 48 is illustrated, it will be seen that the recess 50,within which the blade is mounted and in which it is secured, theposition of the securing means, comprising screws 58, is such that theywill substantially engage the rear, unsharpened edge of the blade 48 andeffectively position the forward, sharpened edge thereof in operativeposition across the slot 44. In this embodiment of cutter structure, theblade is secured by apair of similar clamping plates 52 which areseparate from each other and respectively are secured in operativeposition within opposite ends of the recess 50 by the securing screws 58which extend through holes 64 in the clamping plate 62, as clearly shownin FIGS. 9 and 10. The diagonal edges of the clamping plates 62respectively coincide with opposite sides of the slot 44 when secured inoperative position as illustrated in FIG. 7.

There are two effective and relatively critical features of the cuttercomprising the present invention. The first of these is the distancebetween the cutting edge of the blade and the inner edge of the slot 44.Such distance, as illustrated in exemplary manner in FIG. 6, is providedin order that the cutting blade will slit the vertical flange 28 of thecarton slightly above the additional creases 24 and said distance beingno less than the length of the inwardly folded, spoutforming portionswhich respectively comprise one of the upper portions 32 of the cartonwhich is opposite the one illustrated in FIG. 1 and is nearest thecutter shown in said figure.

Referring to FIG. 2, a dotted line 66 represents an invisible fold linewhich is substantially vertical in said aforementioned upper portion 32and extends upward and inward from fold line 68 which is formedtransversely in both of the upper portions 32 respectively at oppositesides of the carton. The complementary sides of said upper portion 32 onopposite sides of the vertical fold line 66 specifically comprise saidspoutforming panels which are connected to the triangularly shaped outerpanels 7 shown in FIG. 6 which are defined by the triangular crease line72 shown also in said figure.

When the vertical flange 28 has been inserted into the slot 48 of thecutter for the full length thereof, so that the leading edge 74 thereof,as shown in FIG. 6, engages the inner end 76 of the slot 44, the cuttingedge of the blades of any of the embodiments will have cleanly slit theflange 28 sufficiently to expose the upper ends of the inwardly foldedportion 32 on the side of the carton which defines the saidcartonforming spout when the slit portion 78 of flange 28 has been movedlaterally aside. This may be accomplished manually after withdrawing thecarton from the cutter or vice versa. However, in the embodiments shownin FIGS. 3 and 5, the camming surface 56 will automatically cam the slitportion 78 of the flange 28 laterally to one side. After separating thecutter from the carton or vice versa, the folded edges 36 of the upperend of the carton which has been slit then may be engaged manually andby bending the same upwardly away from each other, the spout-formingpanels may be flipped outwardly to form an operable pouring spout.

The second critical aspect of the present invention referred to abovecomprises the fact that the disposition of the cutting blade 46 or 48intermediately between the upper and lower surfaces of the support plate40 provides a height gauging feature to determine where the slit 80 isto be made relative to the crease lines 24, for example. To provide thesame, as shown in FIG. 2, the slot 44 is approximately as wide as thesupport plate 40. By referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the loweredges of the slot 44 ride along the creases 24 and thereby insure thatthe slit 80 not only will be made parallel to the crease lines 24 but,also, the slit is assured of being a short distance there-above so as toincise all of the plies forming the vertical flange 28, including notonly the transverse terminal portions 26 of the sides 14 and 16 of thecarton, but also the 1 upper ends of the upper portions 32 of theintervening sides 30 of the carton, one of such upper portions 32comprising the spout-forming panels which are disposed at opposite sidesof the fold line 66.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, it will be seen that the supportblade 40 is employed in a cutter of a portable type which readily may bemanually handled to effect the formation of the slit 80 in the verticalflange 28 of the carton. However, if it is desired to mount the cutterin a permanent location such as upon the vertical wall of a room orcabinet, the embodiment of the inventions shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 isprovided with support means 42 comprising a vertical flange whichreadily may be secured by screws or otherwise to such verticalsupporting surface.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, a somewhat more simple embodiment of cutter is shownwhich nevertheless embodies the basic cutting principles of theembodiments shown in the preceding figures. In this respect it will beseen from FIG. 9 that the support plate 82 preferably is molded, such asinjection molded, from synthetic resin of suitably rigid nature toresist ready bending. The general dimensions of the support platepreferably are the same as or similar to support plate 40 in thepreceding figures. The slot 54 is dimensioned similarly to slot 44 ofthe preceding figures and functions similarly thereto. However, insteadof the blade being replacable, the blade 86 is selected so asto be ofgood quality and suspectable of reasonably long life and has only itsforward edge 88 sharpened. The opposite ends of the blade 86 are firmlymolded, in situ, within the resin body of support plate 82.

The axis of blade 86 is at substantially the same acute angle to theaxis of slot 84 as in the preceding embodiments, i.e., approximately 50.Also, if it is desired to mount the cutter upon a supporting surface, anupstanding flange 90 is formed at the rear edge of plate 82, as incertain of the preceding embodiments. The blade 86 preferably is mountedparallel to and substantially midway between the opposite surfaces ofsupport plate 82, as shown in exemplary manner in FIG. 10.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention providesseveral embodiments of carton opening cutters of simple and inexpensivebut durable construction each capable of accommodating one of a numberof different types of cutting blades of readily available commondomestic type, such as different kinds of razor blades, but it is to beunderstood that the present invention is not to be restricted to the useof razor blades in that other types of commercial cutting blades may beutilized if of the same shape as the recess 50 provided in the supportblade 40, or if otherwise capable of being connected to the supportplate permanently, as in FIGS. 9 and 10.

The several embodiments of cutters also include different types ofclamping means, one of which is unitary and includes a cam surface forautomatically camming the slit portion of the flange 28 laterally to oneside, while another embodiment includes a pair of similar clamping meanswhich freely expose the cutting blades in the slot 44 of each of theembodiments of support plates 40.

While the invention has been described and illustratedin its preferredembodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not to belimited to the pre' cise details herein illustrated and described sincethe same may be carried out in other ways falling within the scope ofthe invention as illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. A carton opening cutter to slit and facilitate the opening of thepeaked top of a carton, in combination with a paper-stock type cartonused to contain milk and beverages and having at the upper end thereofinwardly and upwardly sloping portions of the side panels of the cartonand inwardly folded spout-forming panels terminating in an upstandingsealed flange having a limited number of said panelsin closely laminatedrelationship, said flange normally being adapted to be split partiallyof the length thereof and unfolded to open the split portion to form apouring spout, said cutter comprising a support plate having a narrowslot extending inward from one end of said plate a distance equal to atleast approximately half the length of the flange of said carton andless than the length of said plate, the width of said slot beingslightly greater than the thickness of said flange to permit the flangeto be received readily therein, and a thin cutting blade carried by saidplate intermediately between the opposite surfaces thereof,

said blade being parallel to said surfaces and having a cutting edge onsaid blade positioned adjacent the outer end of said slot and extendingat an acute angle to the axis of said slot, and said support plate beingsubstantially thicker than said blade and said blade being spaced fromone surface of said plate a distance no less than half the thickness ofsaid plate, whereby the edges of said slot adjacent said surface mayslidably engage the sloping portions of the upper end of said cartonadjacent said flange and thereby gauge the location of said slit in saidflange.

2. The carton cutter and carton combination according to claim 1 inwhich said cutting edge of said blade is spaced from the inner end ofsaidslot a distance no less than half the length of said flange of saidcarton and the inner end of said slot being engageable by the leadingend of said flange whenins'erted into said slot and thereby serve as astop to limit such insertion.

1. A carton opening cutter to slit and facilitate the opening of thepeaked top of a carton, in combination with a paper-stock type cartonused to contain milk and beverages and having at the upper end thereofinwardly and upwardly sloping portions of the side panels of the cartonand inwardly folded spout-forming panels terminating in an upstandingsealed flange having a limited number of said panels in closelylaminated relationship, said flange normally being adapted to be splitpartially of the length thereof and unfolded to open the split portionto form a pouring spout, said cutter comprising a support plate having anarrow slot extending inward from one end of said plate a distance equalto at least approximately half the length of the flange of said cartonand less than the length of said plate, the width of said slot beingslightly greater than the thickness of said flange to permit the flangeto be received readily therein, and a thin cutting blade carried by saidplate intermediately between the opposiTe surfaces thereof, said bladebeing parallel to said surfaces and having a cutting edge on said bladepositioned adjacent the outer end of said slot and extending at an acuteangle to the axis of said slot, and said support plate beingsubstantially thicker than said blade and said blade being spaced fromone surface of said plate a distance no less than half the thickness ofsaid plate, whereby the edges of said slot adjacent said surface mayslidably engage the sloping portions of the upper end of said cartonadjacent said flange and thereby gauge the location of said slit in saidflange.
 2. The carton cutter and carton combination according to claim 1in which said cutting edge of said blade is spaced from the inner end ofsaid slot a distance no less than half the length of said flange of saidcarton and the inner end of said slot being engageable by the leadingend of said flange when inserted into said slot and thereby serve as astop to limit such insertion.